Category Archives: LEGO

You’d probably expect a lot of the posts on a LEGO website like The Brothers Brick to be about LEGO, and you’d be right. If you’re browsing this page, you might want to consider narrowing what you’re looking for by checking out categories like “Space” and “Castle.” We’re sure there’s something here that’ll fascinate and amaze you.

One Kooky Covenant

Throwing a Classic Space twist onto a concept design from Alien: Covenant sure is one way to do SHIPtember. Flickr Builder Space Kook brought their A-game this September with at least five different ships over 100-studs, either in length, width, or height. Jumping around between scales, Space Kook drew inspiration for their fourth build, the LSS Covenant. Taking design cues from early concept art of the USCSS Covenant Colony ship from the Alien movie, large solar panels flare out at the rear of the ship. Progressing further up the body, past the cargo holds, you’ll see a little fighter or drop ship peaking over the main hull of the colony vessel. Decked out in blue and yellow with white and black accents, the choice to craft this ship in Classic Space regalia allowed Space Kook a plethora of parts and design cues. Between the two references, it’s no wonder this creation has such a satisfying bow. The bumble bee stripes and yellow view screen complete the Classic Space homage while sensor arrays and directional boosters grab the eyes as satisfyingly accurate greebling.

This builder really went the extra mile during SHIPtember to accomplish the Herculean task of building not just one, but five massive 100-stud vessels. The techniques and parts used show off Space Kook’s ingenuity with the process across all five and it’s definitely worth checking out the other four ships that they created this year.

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A silky frigate for those deep space patrols

Builder Red Spacecat serves up a silky smooth LEGO frigate for SHIPtember. Coming in at a length of 120 studs, this ship possesses the curves of a luxury liner and the firepower of a deep space frigate. The ship retains lovely definition for each section, despite having mostly white pieces. This allows the colors of the details to really pop and stand out, especially the black details against the stark white body. I particularly love the engine wings with their colorful banding and slick design. And check out that tower at the ship’s rear center–it has nice shaping and parts usage. Overall, I’d say this frigate wins both space battles and battles of style. It’s a great display piece and awesome design for a spaceship, no doubt in my mind.

Another 100-stud long ship – but not the kind you’re thinking of

We’ve featured a lot of big ships recently, what with it having been SHIPtember and all, but they’ve all been the space-faring kind. If you want 100-stud long behemoths that sail the seas rather than the stars, it can be a month of false dawns. Isaiah Durand is here to save the day with this frankly jaw-dropping beast! Christened the Buccaneer’s Dread, it took three years to plan and build. It’s almost as long as it is tall, at a whopping 4 foot 3 inches, or 1.3 metres for the metrically inclined. That’s the height of a small child!

There are some minifigures in the above picture to give you a sense of scale, but it doesn’t really do the details justice. So let’s take a closer look…

A cute and/or lovable droid

Whatever you think of Star Wars content of late, you have to admit they’ve been crushing it in the ‘lovable droids’ department. SPARKART! has given us a digital creation featuring the latest addition to this roster: B2EMO, from the on-going Andor show. Cassian clearly has a thing for sassy robot companions, although B2 here is a little politer than K-2SO was in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This model is apparently capable of “squishing” to replicate B2’s hunker-down-and-hide mode, which is a cool detail. Overall it’s also a good imitation of the droid’s run-down, patchy appearance. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see this lovable robot in LEGO form!

Do not be alarmed. This is only a (man)drill.

LEGO builder Dan Ko has been producing a lot of small stuff lately but we’ve clearly been mighty impressed, by golly! He takes a couple of blue bike helmets, a red lightsaber handle, a Minifigure beard and a few other pieces to cleverly construct this mandrill bust. There is so much character and expression for such a small build. It’s part of what makes Dan’s work so impressive. This is only a LEGO mandrill but I’d still advise not to make eye contact, just in case. While trying to keep peace with this primate, you ought to back away (very slowly, and for the love of God, don’t show your teeth!) and check out the myriad of other neat little things Dan Ko has built lately.

The machines are coming to take our hobbies now

Ryan Olsen went meta for SHIPtember by building a ship that builds ships. The 128-stud long Hiigaran Support Cruiser is a beauty to behold, thanks in large part to its recessed bay, designed to act as a build and repair area for smaller ships.

Ryan executed a number of crafty angles to bring the Support Cruiser to life. The individual panels tend to be flat, without a lot of complicated greebling, but the sheer amount of brick-built striping and other details still create plenty of visual interest. One of my favorite details is the minifigure tools rising up as antenna from the ship’s hull – a clever reminder of the larger craft’s ultimate purpose.

A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing

While we often features builds by AFOLs, sometimes it’s important to remember that LEGO is, fundamentally, a kids’ toy. BetaNotus‘ local LEGO User Group (LUG) has borne that in mind with their latest challenge. Each builder was assigned a sketch by local children, and tasked with turning it into a MOC. It’s an adorable idea that has resulted in a rather cool-looking monster! It’s a skilful piece of building, but it still manages to retain the inventive charm of what a kid’s imagination can conjure up.

The perfect coworker when you’re on the job.

Devid VII brings his mastery of mechs to the job site with this impressive construction robot. This black and yellow fellow is exactly who you want by your side when dealing with heavy duty labor. He can lift a thousand times more than you can, he doesn’t need a lunch break, and he can pipe classic rock into your Bluetooth enabled headphones to keep your spirits up while on the clock. What could be better?

A whale of an idea

As an artist and a LEGO builder, I really enjoy refreshing approaches to building. This bold piece by filbrick looks as if it was made with cut paper. There are eight visible colored layers of brick here, including the stylish white frame. Each is spaced out a bit to create shadows between each distinct layer. I love how some layers showcase various coral and sea plants. And that bold white humpback whale, diver and fish against the dark background is a superb and striking effect. I imagine this could look lovely standing on a table or as a wall hanging. If you like this as much as I do, the builder leaves a not-so-subtle reminder that this can be voted as a LEGO Ideas set. You can use that information as you see fit. This is not the first time we’ve been in awe of filbrick’s work. Click the little blue link to see what I mean.

100 studs? B.E.A.T. that!

LEGO’s Vidiyo theme may not have lasted terribly long on shelves, but it certainly left a big impression on builders. Julie van der Meulen has repaid that favour in a big way too – a seriously huge way, in fact! This Seriously Huge Investment in Parts (SHIP) isn’t a sprawling research station, or a space-faring man-o-war – it’s apparently owned by a DJ whose only purpose is to travel the stars giving free concerts. It looks resplendent in a typically Vidiyo colour scheme, with black, coral red, aqua, and everyone’s favourite, teal. Best of all, it has a backronym name that suits it down to the ground – the Big Engine Auxiliary Tug, or B.E.A.T. Vidiyo may be no more, but it seems like it’s in safe hands in the LEGO community!

Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, really... just don’t

Bionicle and Hero Factory parts may seem to have limited uses to some, but they have great potential. For example, R 194 uses one for the main torso part on this mysterious and potentially deadly messenger who looks like they don’t take kindly to returns. The long fins on the arms look like they might transform into wings and fly your immortal soul to places unknown, while the slender legs and relaxed arms lend the figure with unexpected grace.

TBB-sponsored collaboration MOCing Memories on display this weekend [News]

If you haven’t heard, BrickCon, the home LEGO convention for The Brothers Brick, is happening this weekend in Seattle. And, as we’ve previously posted, we’re hosting a collaborative display called MOCing Memories where builders can showcase their tributes to LEGO sets of the past, large or small. Now, while it’s too late to register to display your own builds, it’s not too late to stop by Saturday or Sunday to see what our talented bevy of builders have come up with in this ode to themes of yesteryear. If you’re in the Seattle area, and you’d like to see this marvelous TBB-sponsored display (and everything else at BrickCon) there’s more info here.